On the night of March 25, 2025, Pakistani journalist Waheed Murad was reportedly taken from his home in Islamabad’s G-8 sector, sending shockwaves through the country’s media community. His wife told fellow journalist Aizaz Syed that unknown men snatched him away, leaving no clue about who they were or why they took him. This isn’t just one man’s story—it’s the latest chapter in a troubling pattern of attacks on free speech in Pakistan.
Who Is Waheed Murad?
Waheed Murad isn’t a household name yet, but he’s a working journalist with ties to Saudi Arabia’s news agency in Pakistan, according to posts on X from journalist Omar Waraich. That’s a big deal—it means he’s not just a local reporter but someone linked to international media. Details about his work are thin right now, but posts on X suggest he’s been vocal about issues that might ruffle feathers, possibly criticizing Pakistan’s government or military. In a country where speaking out can put a target on your back, that’s enough to make him stand out.
His abduction hits harder because he’s not the first. Pakistan’s seen a string of journalists grabbed, roughed up, or worse—think Matiullah Jan in 2020 or Gohar Wazir in 2023, as reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Murad’s case feels like déjà vu, and it’s got people asking: how many more?
Late Tuesday night, March 25, 2025, a group of unidentified men stormed Murad’s home in G-8, a residential area in Islamabad. His wife told Aizaz Syed over the phone that they took him at gunpoint, grabbing phones and documents too, according to Zahid Gishkori’s post on X. No one’s saying who these guys were—no uniforms, no badges, just masks and guns, per family accounts shared online. By morning, March 26, the news was all over social media, with journalists and activists calling it an abduction plain and simple.
No official statement’s come from police or the government yet, which isn’t surprising—Pakistan’s authorities often stay quiet when journalists vanish. Posts on social media from users like Zeeshan Kazmi suggest this silence is part of a bigger crackdown on dissent. The details are still fuzzy, but the fear is real.
This went down in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, not some far-off corner of the country. That’s bold—snatching someone from a city crawling with security and cameras. It happened just hours before midnight on March 25, 2025, and by 1:48 AM +04 on March 26, posts on X from Omar Waraich were already sounding the alarm.
Why Him? A Crackdown on Free Speech
No one’s got a solid “why” yet, but the guesses are piling up. Posts on X—like one from the Young Journalists Federation Pakistan—call it a “blatant violation of free speech.” Murad’s gig with a Saudi news outfit might’ve made him a target if he dug into sensitive stuff—like government policies or military moves. Pakistan’s got a rep for coming down hard on journalists who don’t toe the line. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has long warned about this, saying abductions are a go-to move to shut people up.
Take Matiullah Jan’s case—he criticized the military and got nabbed in 2020, only to turn up shaken but alive, as Reuters reported. Murad’s story fits the pattern: speak out, get taken. Posts on X from Haider suggest intelligence agencies might be behind it, though there’s no hard proof yet—just a lot of fingers pointing.
The reaction’s been instant and loud. By 3:21 AM +04 on March 26, Adeeb Yousufzai from the Young Journalists Federation Pakistan was on social media condemning the abduction. Others, like Baaghiee, tagged big names like Imran Riaz Khan, begging for Murad’s release. The hashtag #ReleaseWaheedMurad started popping up, showing how fast this spread online. Journalists are scared—Omar Waraich noted on social media that even those tied to international media aren’t safe anymore.
Rights groups are jumping in too. Expect Amnesty International or Reporters Without Borders to weigh in soon—they’ve slammed Pakistan before for stuff like this. Back in 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists demanded action when Gohar Wazir got electrocuted after being grabbed. Will Murad’s case get the same push? People hope so, but the clock’s ticking.
Right now, Murad’s still missing—no word on where he is or if he’s okay. His family’s left in the dark, and the government’s not talking. Posts on X from Zeeshan Kazmi blame parties like PML-N and PPP for letting this happen, calling it a “war on democracy.”
For regular people, it’s a wake-up call. If a journalist can vanish from Islamabad, who’s safe?